Monday, March 21, 2005

This was a wonderful first experience. My talk was "Picture Books and the Journey - PB&J." Everybody was extremely respectful and nice. I didn't get cornered by anybody. There were a few bees (hovering, waiting). I noticed them because, well, I’ve been a bee too. There were probably about 100+ people there total, and I met several fellow writers. We ended up talking quite a bit while waiting for our time slots. I sold a few books and signed a few autographs (so strange). I felt pretty comfortable giving my talk and the audience seemed appreciative of the information I shared. I don't know if it all sank in, but they've got a great resource there if they keep the notes. I tried to be honest about how hard the business is, but encouraging too. It's a fine line. I would love to hear some direct feedback though. All in all, it was a wonderfully gentle and positive break-in to talking at conferences. So, all good!

Friday, March 18, 2005

Okay, I'm confused. Did the week with the "Fragile" theme already end and a new week begin? Was I really that busy that I didn't notice the time moving forward? Craziness. Anyhow, this is Gonzago with his seed packets. The blooms are still in their "potential" stage.

It has been an insanely busy week, I must admit. I got a project off to my agent yesterday, and I'll be speaking at the Blue Ridge Writer's Conference tomorrow. "Picture Books and the Journey - PB&J." I'm just arrogant enough to think I have something to share with these budding writers. Actually, I put together an outline of information it took me three years to gather. It may not all sink in, but I wish someone had handed me all this info when I was starting out. I'm pretty excited about it.

Saturday, March 12, 2005

We saw ROBOTS last night. This is the second movie by the creators of ICE AGE. While ICE AGE was wonderful, but obviously a beginners attempt (beginners - yeah - I'd like to see me do that), ROBOTS shows a huge leap in skill and story. It does begin with an opening cartoon with the hero from ICE AGE - the squirrel. Loved that squirrel.

It's amazing to me that I look at the computer animation as an afterthought. It's so amazing looking and yet I take for granted this has only been around for about 15 years. (I'm remembering the early days of Pixar.) Anyhow, while I don't believe any script could be more perfect than FINDING NEMO, this one comes close. It still relies on cliché a little more than I'd like. But I love these movies that obviously have intense brain-storming in the background, popping funny references in every other second. There are some hilarious moments in this movie. The greatest was when I found myself laughing out loud (couldn't stop), only to notice there was a little boy sitting close by laughing just as hard as I was - he was probably about 8 years old. This is a great movie. Your kids will love it, but so will you. I will definitely be buying this on DVD when it comes out.

I'm getting mine in a bit early this week. This isn't anyone I know, I swear.Several of you have asked how I did this. With this piece, I started with a pencil sketch, scanned it in, and rendered it in Photoshop. Thanks for all the nice comments.